Along the margin of the present river-courses are alluvial deposits now in process of formation. Next, marine alluvium, following the direction of the exist- ing great valleys, ojicning out into the sea, and still increasing at the outlet. Colonel Rawlinson and Mr. Ainsworth represent the marine alluvium as increasing at the head of the Persian Gulf at the rate of a mile in thirty j-ears (^Quarterly Jminud, x, 405). There are occasional fresh-water deposits, showing the former existence of small lakes ; somewhat of earlier date are extensive formations of gravel, proving the occurrence here, as in the West, of a period of turliulence at the commencement of tlie post-tertiary epoch.
The highest tertiary deposits form a system of red sandstone and marls uuderhing the valleys of tho
GEOMETRICAL STYLE
809
GEORGE
Mesopotamian rivers. This newest red sandstone ter- tian' is niiuli developed in Asia Minor, and tlionce eastward. It has subordinate beds of gypsum, witli occasional naphtha and bitumen springs. Underneath this tlic nunimulitic series extends for 800 miles with a thickness of 3000 feet. This has been much disturb- ed by elevation, which has thrown it into domes and Avaves, constituting mucli of the peculiar sccnerv of the Turliish eastern frontier. Below this occurs the cretaceous series in the form of blue marls, white lime- stone with flints, and hippurite limestone. A few traces of Paleozoic rocks are lirought to the surface: the whole is sustained by the granitic axis of the Cau- casian chain, and occasionally metamorplu)sed by an- cient volcanic contact.
Tliere arc no fossils common to the cretaceous series and the beds above, though both are marine deposits, nor arc there any common to the two great tertiary divisions, the nunimulitic and the red.
3. On turning westward towards the head of the Eed Sea we encounter the remarkable peninsula of Sinai, formed of red sandstone, borne up and rifted by one of the most forcible exhibitions of igneous rocks to be found in the world.
On approaching the spurs of the Sinaitic range, boulders of red granite and matamorphic rock give in- dications of the disturbed district beyond.
4. The well-known narrow plain of Egypt is a val- ley bordered by nunimulitic rocks of eocene age, inter- spersed with sandstones. As the plain narrows, the scenery becomes diversified by frowning precipices of granite, basalt, and porphyry, which confine the foam- ing river at the cataracts, and expand into the moun- tains of Nubia. The sands, which stretch away to- wards tlie peninsula, cover tertiaiy strata, with silici- fied forests of the same age.
Geometrical Style. See Gothic Architec- ture.
Ge'on (r?;w)'), a Grascized form (comp. Gen. ii, 13, Sept. FiMi') of the name Gihon (q. v.), one of the liv- ers of Paradise, mentioned (Ecclus. xxiv, 27) along with the Jordan, Euphrates, etc., in a description of wisdom (" as Gcon in the time of vintage," meaning apparently the Xile at its period of annual overflow. Fritzsche, ad loc).
George, David. See .Toris.
George, duke of Saxony, celebrated for his an- tagonism to Luther and to the Reformation, was born Aug. 4, 1471. He began to govern his province in 1.500, and immediately showed a persecuting spirit against those who inclined to the Ileforniation. In 1.519 he attended the four-days' controversy l)etween Eck and Carlstadt at Leipzic, and afterwards that of Eek and Luther, from the 4th to the 14th of July. Discussions followed between the duke and Luther, which were afterwards continued alternatelj' in Dres- den and Wittenberg. He several times accused Lu- ther to his luicle, the elector of Saxony, and sought to prejudice liim against tlie reformer. Family misfor- tunes, such as the death of his brother Frederick in 1510, of his daughter Margaret in 1524, and of his wife in 1525, also contributed to embitter his disposition. He died April 17, 1539, but his religious views had some time before undergone a change; and under his successor and brotlier, Henry, the Iteformation made great progress in Saxony. There is a ISIS, life of George of Saxonj' by George Sfialatinus in tlie libra- ry of Gotha. — Herzog, ReaJ-Encyldoj). v, 28 ; Schulze, Georf) II. Luther (Leipz. 1834).
George, elector of Brandenburg-Anspach, one of the first German princes who embraced the doctrines of the Reformation, and who was therefore surnanied the Confessor, or the Pious, was born at Onolzbach March 4, 1484. In 1515 he became, conjointU' witli liis broth- er Casimir, regent of the province, in consequence of